Mine
by TheWastes
Summary: 'If something that's lasted for years could be changed in a matter of days.' Possible ZAGR Rated T for now (probably) Sorry for any errors & if characters are OOC This is my first IZ fic, so feedback is greatly appreciated. Please let me know if anyone wants me to continue. Enjoy :)
1. Chapter 1

_I_

Chapter One

Amber eyes woke up with a groan. Even with the darkness that swelled the room, blocking out light from the outside world, Gaz could unfortunately tell that it was the start of a new day.

With a grunt, she yanked the blankets over her head not wanting to get up.

However, sleep's power had dissipated within seconds, and Gaz found herself leaning over the side of the bed.

As her bare feet touched the floor, Gaz was gifted with a chill that shivered its way up her spine. Narrowing her eyes, she tapped her toes on the cold floor.

She never remembered having metallic flooring in her room.

Her gaze shifted across her surroundings, then she tilted her head up.

As a matter of fact... She never recalled having hundreds of tangled wires dangling from her ceiling before either.

Aside from those two specific things however, nothing else really looked any different, at first glance. Then again, the low lighting didn't really allow her to see much in the first place.

But that should raise a red flag enough.

Gaz suddenly became aware of just how cold the air that surrounded her was. Not that she cared much for it, she was used to low temperatures, but even the air seemed a bit misplaced.

Almost inhuman.

Zim.

That was obvious enough.

She began to blindly feel along the walls for a possible light switch, but did not find one, only heightening her irritation.

Gaz glanced down to overlook herself, only to find a long, black nightshirt and grey shorts. Nothing unusual.

She pulled back the sleeves and examined her pale arms in the dim light of the room.

Not a bruise or puncture in sight.

Alright, so the stupid pathetic-excuse-of-an-invader actually did have a brain enough not to try any of his vacuous experiments on her. At least for the moment being.

Which hopefully he would be smart enough to keep it that way,

if he wanted to keep his limbs intact.

Though, as Gaz thought about it, she didn't recall seeing the narcissistic invader much recently, or being taken to his base by any means...

Or much of anything really.

Her brow creased in thought, as she tried to look over the events from the previous day, but came up blank.

Again and again.

But still nothing.

Suddenly, a flash of red and green filled her vision, before disappearing as soon as it came. Gaz gasped, holding her chest and stumbled across the bed until her back ungracefully hit the wall.

Gaz stared down at the sheets scrunched up under her form with wide eyes. Listening to the loud thumping of her heart echoing in her ears as she slowly steadied her breathing.

A bead of sweat trickled down Gaz's face as she pushed herself away from the wall, one hand still on her chest.

' _Get out,_ '

Finally having back her full composure, Gaz contorted her face into a scowl.

What was _that_?

It hadn't felt like a hallucination of any sort. Even with how fast it had played out, Gaz could tell that there was a sense of realism that came with it.

It had felt like more of a memory. But of what...

Giving up on that notion for now, she started to analyze the surrounding area more carefully. The walls -just like the flooring- were lifeless sheets of metal held together by thin lines of bolts, barely visible from Gaz's position.

There wasn't another piece of furniture that she could see. The only thing friendly enough was the bed that she sat upon.

Finally aggravated enough by the unnerving silence, Gaz pushed herself off the bed and headed for what she assumed was the door.

With a hiss it slid open at her presence and she stepped out into a long corridor. The hums of the base's mechanics finally reaching her ears. After a few quick glances down both ways,

Gaz shrugged and just picked a random path that she directed her feet to.

Minutes past after her searching, but it didn't take that long to find the Irken, standing in front of one of his large computer monitors with bright foreign symbols written across it.

She silently stood in the doorway for a bit before deciding to take the element of surprise upon the alien. A smirk grew on her face as she advanced towards the unsuspecting invader until she stood only a few feet away.

It didn't appear much that he acknowledged her presence in any way, but much to her disappointment, one of his antennae twitched and he whipped around to face her with an arrogant smirk.

"Well human stink-beast, it appears your sleep-cycle is done, I presume?"

"Why am I here." Gaz spoke in more of a statement than a question, ignoring his inquiry.

Zim chuckled before he smugly grinned down at the human. "Well, it appears you've forgotten again, haven't you, little-Gaz?" he sneered.

Gaz drolly stared up at him. "Give me answers now, or I will send you into a world of pain, from which there is no escaping." she growled.

Unfazed by the girl's threat, Zim rolled his eyes and turned back to his earlier work.

"Yes, yes world of pain and pit of despair... I've heard it all before." he waved off.

One amber orb quirked open at alien's dismissive behavior before it closed once more. She scowled as she dug her nails into her crossed arms.

" _Now_."

Zim briskly stopped what he was doing to glare at the girl over his shoulder. With a huff, he turned back to the screens and proceeded to tap viciously on the control panel.

"Stupid demanding earth-monkeys..." Zim angrily mumbled as the screens shut off.

With an exhale of breath, the tall invader brushed past the girl, not waiting for her to catch up. The clacking of boots becoming softer as he quickly moved down the hall.

"Come, Gaz-Human, there is much we need to get done." Zim called.

A few moments past before Gaz decided to follow him into the dark depths of his base.

Day 2291


	2. Chapter 2

_It_

Chapter Two

Gaz silently followed the clacking of Zim's boots, not really intent on where they were going.

For a few minutes she thought that it might probably be useful to keep a map of all the hallways they'd past through, for later use, but that thought quickly escaped her mind. She lifted her gaze up to the form in front of her.

She watched as Zim's surprisingly lean hips moved in time with each step he took.

Her eyes moved up to his broad shoulders and noticed just how much the uniform hugged his skin.

From the few rants her brother made, that Gaz had decided to begrudgingly listen to, she faintly remembered Dib saying something about Irkens' height and how it affected their role in society. The apparent normal size for an Irken was about 4 feet or so.

However, judging by the height of the Irken in front of her, that said otherwise.

Gaz was roughly around 5 feet, and Zim was still a good head or two above her.

She grunted.

'I guess all the years he's been here has had an impact on him.'

Gaz was so caught up in her thoughts that she failed to noticed that Zim had stopped, before bumping into his side. The abrupt motion caused Gaz to stumble back a bit till she steadied herself on the wall. Zim frowned at the girl and she did the same right back.

"Watch where you're going, idiot." she mumbled.

Zim stood back in shock. " _Me_?! _You're_ the one who can't even keep track of _your_ filthy meat-sack, before coming into contact with my superior form!"

Gaz raised a fist, " You want to say that again?"

Zim's eyes widened and he smartly went against responding with something that would probably get him killed. Instead he cleared his throat and turned back to the door in front of him, placing his hand against the sensor.

The door slid open and he stepped into the dimly lit room, his heals clicking every once in awhile.

The invader sneered to himself and decided just to play along with the human for now.

Zim walked up to a filing cabinet and began to scan through its files.

Gaz stood at the entrance, looking around the room.

Zim motioned for her to follow, so she carefully took steps toward him.

Zim suddenly gasped and took a step back. "No," he whispered. He shook a file up in his fist. "NO!" he bellowed.

For some reason, Gaz's heart began to race and she felt a tinge of alarm.

"THIS CAN'T _BE_!" he shouted again.

Gaz tilted her head, swaying her weight from one foot to the other. "Um, Zim?"

He crouched down to the floor, file still in hand, and started to repeatedly bang his fist against the ground.

"NO!"

"Z-"

" _NO_!"

"Zi-"

" _NO_!"

" ** _Zim_**."

Zim stopped hitting the floor and scowled up at the human. "Eh? What do you want, Gaz-Human?"

Gaz glared down at the alien with her arms crossed. "What is that?" she asked through grit teeth, gesturing at the file.

Zim looked at her in confusion before following her gaze towards the file crumpled up in his fist.

"Oh eh, the bills."

He hoisted himself back up. "And what _horrifyingly_ high bills they are!" he shouted. Zim dusted himself off and turned back to a now not-so-amused Gaz.

"What?" he asked dumbfounded.

"Are you done?" Gaz growled.

"With what?" he questioned, a look of confusion on his face.

Gaz face palmed and sighed. "Never mind. Can we just get back to telling me what the hell is going on?"

Zim replaced the crumbled file in with the rest before spinning around on one heel. "Oh yes, of course. Come human, we mustn't waste time!"

Gaz rolled her eyes, "Pft, you're telling me."

A few minutes later, they arrived at another room not too different from the last one. Except this room gave Gaz an odd sense of familiarity that greatly unnerved her.

Zim watched her uneasiness with amusement from across the room, then turned to grab what he came for.

"Tell me Gaz," She stopped walking at the low sound of Zim's voice.

"do you remember your sibling…

Dib?"

Gaz frowned. 'Why the heck is he asking me this?'

He chuckled as he turn back to face her, scarlet eyes glowing in the surrounding shadows.

"Well," he began, not giving time for her to respond as he pulled something from behind his back. He then tossed the object at her.

"No new memories shall be made after what you've pitifully lost."

Gaz's eyes opened fully as a gasp ghosted its way past her lips.

And her heart stopped.

In her hands, she held a tattered, black trench coat.

Her brother's tattered, black trench coat.


	3. Chapter 3

_It'_

Chapter Three

A few more seconds past as Gaz stared wide-eyed at the torn piece of clothing in her hands. She began to of her brother began to dance before her eyes. His voice an echo in her ears.

 _Gaz._

'No, this can't be,'

 _C'mon Gaz._

'Why?'

 _Don't shut me out again, trust me. We're family._

'How?'

 _We're a team._

Then it stopped. The voices, the images, the shaking… it all silenced. Her brows narrowed. Why was she acting like this? Of all people. To care less about the demise of others, to even laugh in the face of death itself. That was her.

But something in her felt otherwise. Something had made itself comfortable in the dark pits of her icy heart, for what felt like years. Something weak. And she despised it.

She then glared down at the coat, the stench of deception breathing out through every crease that ran through the black material. She shot her gaze back to Zim, who had just been watching the whole thing with what seemed like curiosity, and something else. She tossed the coat back at the alien.

"Lies."

Zim just smirked as he swiftly caught the coat in one hand. "I assure you Gaz-creature, this is no lie."

Gaz scoffed. "Prove it."

Zim grinned down at her. "You poor, naive human, I intend to."

He then faced away from her, "You see, quite a while ago, I had captured one of your little female dirt-children for some tests that I wanted to test out. Th-"

Gaz snorted. "For some 'tests' that you wanted to 'test' out."

Zim drolly stared at her. "Gaz, let me-"

"Stupid."

"LET ME FINISH HUMAN!"

Gaz raised her hands in fake surrender. "Not my fault that you have a limited vocabulary."

Zim's left eye twitched before he twisted around and shushed the human. This went on until Gaz had to start squinting her eyes even further due to the storm of spit that went flying in her direction. After he'd finally stopped, she wiped at her face in disgust.

"You _will_ pay." she darkly promised, giving her face one last wipe.

Zim again faced away from the girl and began folding the trench coat. "I have no need to pay you anything, little-Gaz, now quit interrupting Zim."

Zim adjusted his throat and continued to speak "Anyhow, the pig-headed earth-stink had found out about my doings. How? I can't imagine, against my amazing skills of sneakiness! However, him being the supposed 'defender' of this inferior mass of _filth_ ; he would stop at nothing to get back the 'precious' girl in my possession.

'So, the Dib-beast decided to meet up for a trade of some sort. His location of choice being the woods just outside of town, for intentions I will never know." Zim hung his head low as one hand lingered on one edge of the black clothing, now lying on the metal table it had been on before. Silence hung in the room until Zim shifted his feet and started talking again. Gaz just stared at him.

He let out a quiet laugh, "I had 'agreed' to his little bargain, and set out in the voot-cruiser. When I got there, I'd planned on turning on our deal, and laugh at his pathetic attempt as he cried in a puddle of his tears in defeat." He shook a fist. Then Zim's long held smirk contorted into a frown.

"Though, when Zim did get there, I found no one to laugh at… I found no one to watch cry in their putrid tears of failure."

He lifted his head up, staring at the wall in front of him.

"I found nothing."

Again, Gaz felt her heart speeding up.

But at this point she didn't care, she just needed answers.

Gaz watched as the invader shifted his position to leaning on the table behind him, his eyes focused on the floor.

"What I did find, however, was that torn, stupid trench-thing that he so invariably wore. It was badly ripped as if the Dib-pig had been slaughtered by a beast of some kind. Though, what caught most of my attention was a little piece of paper I found in one of the pockets. It read-"

"'Get out, now.'" Gaz breathed.

"Uh yes...'Get out now'," Zim repeated. His eyes slowly made their way up to Gaz, and narrowed menacingly. Then, like nothing ever occurred, Zim's expression lost its glower and his eyes were back on the floor, retaining his far away look.

Gaz's eyes widened for a moment before her brows lowered in thought, though Zim didn't seem to notice.

"I had no time to fathom what that meant because, to my luck, it'd started to rain." Zim shuddered.

He crossed his arms, "I should have felt accomplished because of what happened; the fact that my enemy was finally gone, but instead I felt a horrible emptiness in my spooch. Like there was something missing, and it angered me that I was not the cause of his downfall. Because of this, I just seemed to… _ugh_ …give up.

'So, once I went back to the base, I set the girl free and ordered her to go back to her pitiful meat-stink life. Though, to my utter disappointment, the child had denied to leave, and said that she felt safer with me."

Zim glanced up to the quiet human.

"Gaz, I don't know what attacked your brother nor what exactly happened to the idiotic human,"

He then bent forward and spoke viciously against her ear.

"But if you ask me, I'd say he got his own big-headedness killed all by himself."

The light tapping of boots filled the room as Zim began to circle the human. "Just imagine," he subtly whispered. "The Dib-human simply sitting on the splintered stump of a tree in the hours of the night. Just waiting in the silence of it all." He snaked his claws through a tuff of purple locks, curling them around a finger. Gaz hissed and jerked away from the touch, but quickly regretted her action at the light sting that lingered from her pulled hairs. Zim slyly smiled as he let the loose strands fall to the floor.

"Then," he stopped his pacing to stare at her. "Something grabs him from behind." Zim yanks her arm, emphasizing his point and never breaking eye contact. "And he's helplessly dragged away. His pitiful cries for help in a place where no one can hear him. His already torn coat getting caught, only making the struggle ever more painful. Till finally, it lets go and so does he." His face inches closer to the girl. "Already knowing that no one, not even his _sister_ would care if he's gone. The Dib's filthy blood-candies being spilled from his throat…" Gaz's whole body stilled.

"All because he was waiting for a girl who never came."

Gaz felt something snap at the alien's last words, and without a second thought, she lunged at him. She could already hear the crunching of his jaw beneath her hand. Listen to the agonized screams erupting from his throat. She would enjoy inflicting pain upon the one who dared to make her suffer.

Suddenly, her fist froze inches from her target. She searched between those unchanging rose orbs, her breathing ragged, and her fist began to shake.

Why was she stopping?

 _'Don't'_

She couldn't take it.

Gaz felt a deep aching in her chest. It was a sense of longing for a hand she couldn't reach. It was a breath of remorse for the words she'd blocked out. And it hurt.

But it wasn't compassion.

And it wasn't going to get to her.

She felt the tears coming, but hastily plastered the broken pieces of her dam.

She wouldn't show weakness in front of anyone.

Especially not the one in front of her.

With that, Gaz lowered herself back down, her violet strands obscuring her tainted cheeks and eyes.

"What about me, where did I come in in all this?" she silently choked out.

"Oh, you just came in here one day asking where your stupid sibling was, and decided to stay. No big deal." Zim shut his eyes and waved off.

At this point, the stupidity of Zim's last statement was lost to her. So, with her last bit of questioning quenched, she soundlessly made her way out of the room. To her aggravation, Gaz lost her way after a few minutes, and she finally broke down in one of the secluded halls of this god-forsaken place.

Alone,

cold

and afraid.

* * *

A/N

Hey guys, just wanted to say sorry for the really short chapters. I'm just trying to find good stopping points, but I'll try to make them longer as the story progresses, for the sake of you readers and my sanity.

Oh yes, (this doesn't go for all readers) to those of you who started reading this book around the few days when I first published it, I just wanted to let you know that I tweaked a few words in the summary and added some to chapter 1. So there's no confusion, I'm basically just going to be adding a longer timeline to the story, due to rushing purposes. Sorry for the inconvenience. Anyhow, enough of my rambling. See you in the next update~ :)


	4. Chapter 4

_It's_

Chapter Four

'I know he's lying.'

Gaz sat with her back against the wall, caressing her legs to her chest. The noise had long ago receded the empty corridor, all minus her shallow breaths. The tears had dried a few minutes back, and the leftovers had crusted to her skin.

'I just know he's lying.'

Gaz rested her chin on one arm, and kept gazing lazily at the wall across from her. Her brows dropped over her heavy eyes. Her tired expression dwindling into one of anger and questioning. Again, why was she acting like this? She couldn't remember the last time she cried like this, because to her knowledge, she had never sobbed her eyes out. So that automatically had some questions running.

Why did he get to her so easily? How did he get to her with just a few words of minor gore? Why did he use her brother against her? What could he possibly have to gain from having her around? And why couldn't she remember anything? But the question that raised her head the most was-

Why was she here?

Gaz tried to analyze everything over in her head. So, to sum up the recent events, she woke up with no memory whatsoever; in a deranged alien's home of all places. Which said alien abruptly had told her -in detail- that her brother was dead, and to top it off, she was _vulnerable._ Not really her cup of tea, but she'd have to work with it.

Now to think of an escape route. Well, she could always just do the basic thing and walk out of here, she thought on. If she knew where the hell she was going. Even though she had been here that one time before, it didn't exactly make her an expert of getting around this place. 'Dammit, really wishing I'd stuck to the map plan right about now.' Or she could get her way out by force. Excepted for the fact that her 'captor' did stand a few good feet over her, and he was not the least bit scrawny. He seemed like he would be a worthy opponent, visually at least. But she wasn't really planning on finding out just yet. First she needed to figure out what exactly she was dealing with before turning to that option. Not the fact that she was scared or anything. She snorted. She just needed time.

Alright, so she had no useful information and hardly any helpful tactics to make an escape out of here, which basically meant she was probably screwed by this point.

Tapping was heard coming from the end of one of the halls. She snapped her head towards the sound, and waited. To her surprise, it was the little robot. When it came into her line of vision, she noticed that it had a fish flopping on its head. Gir stopped his walking and turned his cyan eyes toward her. She just glared back. A few moments past before Gir started squealing and ran towards her. Gaz tried to move out of the way of the charging little droid, but was to no avail. She oofed as he crashed into her. He wrapped his tiny mechanical arms around her waist. He then looked up at her and waved. "Hi Mary's sister!"

Gaz frowned at the nickname and swiftly shoved the robot off of her. "Don't touch me." she hissed. Gir made a hard clank when he came in contact with the wall before slamming to the floor. He quickly got back up and started clapping. "Yay! Again, again!" he giggled. Gaz gave pained look at his heightened enthusiasm, and tried moving away again.

Gir skipped his way towards the retreating girl and held the fish he still had out to her, that somehow hadn't fallen off his head in the whole process. "Want some sushi?" he said gleefully. He dangled the thing in her face, and from this view she could see that it was still alive. Gaz moved his little hand back with one finger. "Um, no thanks. I'm not in the mood for food poisoning today." Gir just stared at her for a few seconds before shrugging. "More for me!" With that, he dropped the little fish in his mouth and started making loud chewing noises. And for the second time today, spit came flying at her face. Gaz made a look of disgust and wiped the spit away.

How robots could even have spit in the first place was beyond her, so she just decided to put that thought into the trash bin of her brain. Gaz scoffed. It seemed like everything was going into that trash bin lately.

"GIR!" an all too familiar voice boomed as the now highly audible sound of stomping rapidly came closer. Zim soon came into view with a fumed expression on his face, his clenched hands held at his sides. "I thought I told you to go to the store!" Gir looked up at Zim and pointed to Gaz. "Look master! I found Gazzy!" Zim crossed his arms and nodded his head. "Yes, so you did. Now GO." Gir made a pouting noise and hung his head low. "NOW GIR." Gir sighed, "Okie-dokie…" He turned back to Gaz and smiled. "Bye scary lady!" He then scurried down the hall and out of sight.

Zim tiredly groaned and moved to sit down next to the human. Gaz scooted away as he sat down. He drolly stared at her. "Is that really necessary?" Gaz looked at him humorlessly and started counting on her fingers. "I don't have any memory to rely on for guidance, I'm in a place where I get lost in a matter of minutes, you just told me bluntly that my stupid brother bit the dust, and lastly, I don't trust you." Zim lightly raised his shoulders. "Eh, point taken."

Both sat in silence for a bit, neither looking at the other. Gaz's thoughts began running again, and that was the last thing she needed right now. She decided to break the silence. "I know you're lying." Zim placed his cheek in his palm and hummed, barely catching what the girl said. "About what exactly?" he inquired with boredom. "You know what I'm talking about." Zim glanced at her. "Oh? And how, I suppose, do you know that?" Gaz looked back to the walls. "I sensed it in you," she replied.

She tilted her head down, her hair falling over her face, hidden from Zim's magenta gaze. "But I have to admit, you're getting pretty good." Zim now looked at her with mild interest. "Really?" His tone lowered. Zim placed a hand on his chest, "Well, I do have my ways, human." He grinned as he prided himself. Gaz smirked, "So you admit to it," Zim looked at her quizzically. "Admit to what?" "Admit to lying." she crossed her arms. Zim gave her an equally smug grin. "I admit to nothing, little-Gaz," He stood up and began walking away, but briefly turned to address her once more. "And you're going to have to trust me eventually."

Gaz was again left alone, and to her thoughts. She scowled at his words. What had he meant by that exactly? She briskly got to her feet and chose to follow him. She really needed to start forming a plan of escape soon.

However, some twisted part of her actually wanted to stay to see where this was going.

Oh well, she would find out soon enough.

* * *

Zim continued to smirk as he heard the girl's footsteps behind him. To be completely honest, he had no destination of which he was walking to. He just cherished the fact that she was following him.

But now that he thought about it, they _had_ been walking for some time now. About 25 minutes to be exact. And he could sense her annoyance like a blind Anthroth could sense light.

So, with that in mind, he decided to lead her to the room he had placed in a few years back. A few more minutes past before they finally came to a set of two doors.

"Are we almost there yet?" Gaz asked with impatience.

Zim rolled his eyes. "Yes, human, here we are." Zim moved aside and allowed Gaz to enter the room first.

When her eyes looked past the now dispersing doors, she was met with a completely different image than the base she'd been seeing all day.

Unlike the rest this place, this room actually looked like it belonged in a modern home; of her own design no less.

The walls were a dark shade of grey which contrasted into a ceiling with such a blackness that matched the night sky. Small strings of light shot out of the sky-like ceiling, appearing as if they were defying gravity. The small lights were just enough to see everything without becoming bright, painful glares.

The room had an oval shape to it, not really hiding much from her view. There was an outline of what seemed to be blackened wood where the walls met the floor. The ground was a non-distracting shade of lavender that strangely illuminated in the lighting. She stepped into the room and immediately felt warmth spread throughout her body. She closed her eyes and sighed at the feel of the soft silk-like flooring against her frozen feet. She went to stand in the center of the room. Her amber gaze past over the pieces of furniture scattered around the huge room.

A large, round bed with black sheets and comforters rested at one of the farther ends of the room, to her left. To her right was a dark violet sofa facing a large, black gaming system, completed with matching speakers. She first went to investigate the bed.

A little black nightstand to the left of the bed held a small cream white lamp and lavender box. She reached out for the box and opened it. Inside it was something all too familiar. Its white face stared back at her as she picked it up. She closed her hand over the necklace before placing it in its rightful place around her neck.

Her hand grazed over the covers of the bed, the material tickling her palm. She then began to make her way over to the gaming system. On her way over she suddenly tripped over some invisible step. However, before she could hit the ground, Zim caught her and hoisted her back up.

In all actuality, Gaz had fully forgot that the invader was even there at all.

She turned away from him and frowned at the tinge of embarrassment that started to form from the need to be 'rescued'. "Thanks." she mumbled, rubbing her arm and continued walking towards her original location. Zim frowned and followed after the girl.

Gaz tried to focus on her task but found it hard to anymore. She felt eyes on her. She turned around and glowered at the owner of those eyes. Zim blinked. "What?"

Gaz narrowed her brows more. She pushed past him. "Nothing. Just stop staring, it makes your face look even stupider."

A moment's silence went by and Gaz finally spoke. "What is this place?" She asked in slight awe. "It is your resting quarters." Gaz turned around and faced him with puzzlement. "My resting quarters? You mean my room?" Zim nodded. "Yes," Gaz faced her back toward him and stared around the room. A lot of thought went into this place. "You designed it." Zim stated.

Before she could respond, Zim walked past her and headed for the wall beside the right side of her bed. "Come," he gestured. Gaz came up beside him. "Give me your hand," Zim said holding out his own. Gaz scowled at him. "Why?" "Just give Zim your hand, human, it will only last for a few miserable seconds." He said with exasperation. Gaz sighed and begrudgingly gave him her hand.

Zim lightly grabbed hold of Gaz's hand and guided it to a glowing circle now on the wall. Gently he placed hers on the scanning system. He flexed his claws above her fingers before quickly pulling back the appendage.

A quiet buzz sounded before a door slid open to their left. "This room opens to your handprint, and your handprint only. No one can come in or get out unless you open the door." Zim explained.

Gaz cautiously entered first as Zim followed not far behind. When she had stepped into the room, she'd expected to find a trap of some sort, with Zim maniacally laughing at her stupidity.

But instead she found a regular walk-in closet.

Everything seemed normal. Too normal. "How long have I been here?" she slowly asked. Silence answered her. "How long have I been here, Zim?" Again nothing. " **Zim.** " She swiped around only to find that she was now alone in the small space. Her eyes widened. Now she actually did expect this to be a trap. She took a battle stance and waited. When nothing happened, she placed her hands on her hips and just assumed that the coward actually did just leave. "Great, just great."

In just a few halls away, Zim was checking camera feeds around the house's perimeter. The computer had silently notified him that there was somewhat of a disturbance. Zim's eyes dashed from one feed to the next, until his eyes finally found the so-called disturbance. Laughs began to rise in the back of his throat. He gave wolfish grin.

Behind the sheets of rain and the fuzziness of the screen, was a young man sitting in a cop car with binoculars.


	5. Chapter 5

_It's._

Chapter Five

Patiently, the young man put down the binoculars. He squinted his eyes at the looming green house across the street. The everlasting sheets of water slammed mercilessly against the roof of the car, seemingly able to drown out any sound that dared to faced up to it.

He could feel something staring back at him from that place, he just knew it. However, it's not like anyone would believe him anyways. He'd learned from quiet observation and experience what people do to 'crazies' in this town.

Anyone with a sense of 'insanity', as they called it, was to be shunned and locked away from the rest of the world. In the bindings of a white jacket both physically and mentally. He shivered at the thought. So in order to keep his rank and his job, he no longer spoke his beliefs out loud.

Instead he did the next best thing. On whatever free time he had, whether it be lunch, a day off or just when the rest of his colleagues didn't need him, he would stalk this house and wait for something to happen. However, no one ever came out of it, except for that green dog walking on two legs.

Seeing that used to intrigue him, but now it simply became an everyday thing just like everything else. Even then, he didn't give up. He'd sit like this through days, nights and the ever-changing seasons. And there demented building stood, always taunting him. Like it was waiting for the perfect moment to strike when everyone would turn their backs.

Yet he knew it already had.

And that angered him deeply. His nostrils flared as he clenched and unclenched his fist. The atmosphere fuming with his hatred was almost tangible.

He sat up straight for a bit, but released a shaky breath before slumping back down. He rested his face against the cold glass of the window, and closed his eyes.

Sometimes he considered getting a search warrant just go investigate, but thought against it, knowing that more than likely, no one would answer the door. Other times he actually just thought he'd just say fuck it and break into the house, with the belief that he'd finally receive an answer.

Unfortunately, over the years, his hope had begun to dwindle and the fire that once burned inside him was long ago extinguished.

Suddenly his radio fizzed to life, causing his moment of peace to die along with the comforting silence. He grumbled and picked up the stupid thing. "Yeah, I'm here."

"202 to County, 10-19." The young man sighed and ran a hand through his unruly hair. "Roger that, on my way." He placed back the communicator in its holder. He then rubbed a hand over his eyes before stepping out of the car.

He noticed that the rain had slowed down to a slight drizzle, thankfully indicating that the brunt of the storm had already passed through. He took in a breath of the fresh air which helped to calm his nerves for the moment being.

He rounded toward the back of the vehicle and opened the trunk a creak. Blindly the officer stuck his hand inside searching for a string. When he'd finally found it, he grasped onto it and fully opened the trunk.

The string began to rise in the air after its attachment; a violet balloon. The number 17 was boldly painted onto one side of it. It twirled in the air, begging to be released and set free to touch the clouds.

The young man gave the string a tight squeeze before releasing it into the sky moments later. He stood back and watched it dance lonelily in the light breeze. It didn't take much time until it became nothing but speck in a dark sea of clouds.

He felt a wetness on his face. Though he knew better than to say it was from the rain. With that, he slammed the trunk back in place and went back inside the car. He banged the dashboard in rage and shot his blazing eyes back towards the house.

"I know it was _you_." He snarled.

He jerked the gears into drive, and with a screech the car sped off.

After a while, the car began to slow down. Less force was applied to the gas pedal as he began to shake. Tears started to make their way out of his eye, and an ache in his body started to form. His lips quivered and his knuckles grew white in his grip of the steering wheel.

"Happy birthday, Gaz." he whispered.


	6. Chapter 6

_It's.A_

Chapter Six

'Restart'

The word blinked repeatedly upon the screen in the dark room. Its reddish glow consuming everything in its wake, then blacking out before its light shun back on its path moments later. This pattern had continued on into a long string of minutes, with Gaz simply sinking into the cushions of the couch. The surprisingly comfortable material squishing around her form. Her thumb hovered over one of the buttons, debating whether she actually wanted to play this game again… for the fifth time in a row.

She looked at the screen one last time before getting up and turning off the game system. She grumbled under her breath, moving across the room to find the switch to adjust the lighting. The switch appeared by the entrance where it'd been before she'd started playing. The whole space around her soon became a hint brighter.

She leaned her left side against the wall, her shoulder lightly brushing her cheek. She stared at the ground for a few moments, contemplating things in her head. The game she'd played had seemed too easy for her tastes. But it wasn't as to say that it had been a stupid game. It'd been quite a good and complexed one actually, she mused. Rather instead it was easy to the point where she knew every second of it. As well as the cheats.

Which only made her wonder more of how long she's been here.

Her gaze moved to the closet by her bed. She never really got a chance to fully check it out. So she pushed herself off the wall, releasing a short breath. She made her way across the room and searched the wall for the hidden scanner. Her hand breezed across the smooth texture till a rim of white light encircled her palm. Again the low buzz was heard and the swift opening of the door ensued.

She stepped inside the room and glanced about. Her eyes traveled over lines and rows of clothing. Until stopping on an instrument in a slanted position on the ground. She quirked a brow. It was a guitar.

She went over and picked it up. She pulled at one of the strings thinking her eyes might be deceiving her. A low tune shook through the hollow instrument as the plucked string vibrated against her fingers. She pursed her lips. She strummed all the strings together. The sound filled the small space, then faded back down again.

She looked back down at the object in her hands and shrugged. Well, she mine as well find other things to pass the time while she's here.

—

Meanwhile, Zim sat in his chair and watched the whole show that the officer on the screen had just portrayed. He gave a triumphant curve of his lips as he watched the car speed off. Hearing the young human's last accusing, venomous words were the most precious of jewels to the invader. He praised himself on how much the human actually loathed him, and how far he'd been able to push the boy to the brink.

Where he was finally completely and utterly useless. "Foolish human," he spat. "After all these years, you finally fall in line wi-"

One of his antennae twitched. A low tune danced through the air before quietly dissipating. He sat forward, his eyes lowering in search for the deep thrum he'd heard.

He cocked his head and listened. The first was soon followed by a higher tune. Then yet higher one. And the three-noted pattern kept in second-to-second repetition before slipping into a lower octave of the same sequence of notes, and back again. His antennae perked up in realization. She'd acquired the gee-tar device. He closed his eyes and continued to listen to the long line of notes that slowly but surely reached his feelers. He shuddered.

For some strange reason he couldn't comprehend, he found himself intrigued whenever the girl did this. And it would strangely entice him to travel further towards the sound. As if it was silently beckoning him, calling to him. Sadly, it was the he only thing he'd heed the orders from anymore, but it was still a strong enough force to have him craving more.

With that, the invader stood up out of his seat and exited the room. The screens and machinery automatically shutting down behind him due to the sudden absence of his presence.

With closed eyes, Zim guided himself down the crooks and turns of his base towards the alluring noise. Gradually, with every step that he took he quickened his pace.

Finally, he came around the bend of the hall where the thrums reverberated of the walls. He slowed his steps, and was about to enter through the doors that were the last piece of metal standing between him and his beguiling music.

He stopped short when he heard something other than the graceful plucking of thin metal bars. He heard a voice. It went hypnotically in time with the rhythm of the instrument.

It was a voice that was gentle and soft, almost a whisper.

And that's when he realized Gaz was singing.

He pressed his head against the door, trying to hear her clearly. The melody swirled on with her inaudible sentences, traveling higher until reaching its peak. Until crawling back down in a low whirl of vocals and cords. Its rhythm having a slight even beat to it, causing the Irken to silently tap his foot as he leaned against the doors.

 _Tick-tick-tick-tick._

Then, in a matter of seconds, it faded into nothing more than the after tones of the last strings being plucked. Zim pressed himself harder against the doors, his antennae raised high, trying to catch the sound again, only to press back down against his skull. He growled in frustration that his song had come to an end, balling up his fist.

However, he didn't have much time to react when the doors beneath him vanished. His eyes widened and he yelped, trying to clasp at the air for balance, but soon came in contact with unsuspecting floor.

He stayed splayed across the floor for a few moments before lifting his head up to be met with the closed eyes of the girl standing before him.

"Eh," he looked around nervously for an excuse. "It sounded like you were in pain…?" He smiled weakly.

Gaz shifted her weight to the opposite foot. It was only then the invader notice she held a fresh set of attire in one hand. "Next time, try not to slam on the doors. That's just the sound of you begging for my fist in your face. Besides, hiding behind a door from a girl is not even sad; it's just pathetic." Zim blinked and awkwardly stood himself up. "Zim does not _beg_ for anything, human! And how dare you have the audacity to call Zim pathetic!"

Gaz raised a hand to his mouth, giving him a dull look.

"Anyways, I was about to go look for your green hide and ask you where I could go to wash up."

Zim mustered himself back up and swatted her hand away. "Pft, I knew that." he stated arrogantly. Gaz gave him a challenging stare and made her way out of the room. "Sure you did. And to answer to your earlier excuse, I wouldn't call it pain, so much as I would call it indignation." she responded.

Zim looked puzzled by her comment, but brushed it off as he showed her towards the cleansing facility.

—

Zim entered a code and the door blew open. "The shower's in the left corner, the toilet is near the sink on the far right, and the water adjustment lever is on the shower-head. Let Zim know if you are in need of any assistance." He informed before stepping back out, locking the door behind her.

Gaz exhaled a breath and moved to turn the shower on.

After a few tackles with the stupid thing, it began working at a decent pace. With Gaz finally satisfied, she peeled off her close and stepped into the shower. Warm water trickled down her skin, and the humidity that surrounded her cleared her clouded mind. Her body relaxed for those few moments before cleaning herself off.

She cracked open her eyes to gaze down at her form. A shallow breath escaped her lips as she ran a shaking hand down the curve of her hip. It was more defined than she remembered; as if she'd aged overnight. Was she even eleven anymore?

But she knew better than to imagine that she was still her old self. The proof that she'd changed was the appearance of her very skin. Though, was she still the same on the inside?

That was to be left unanswered for the moment.

Her gaze traveled across her skin till she noticed a marred piece of flesh just below her breasts. She looked at it with lowered brows. It was a narrow slash over her ribcage.

It appeared as if it had healed quite a while ago, but not so much as to obscure it completely. After all, it was a scar. From something her shackled mind could only assume about.

Her skin crawled as she kept her eyes on that lone mark. Simply wondering of its origins. The meaning behind its healed layers, where it came from. How she was scarred.

Her hands clenched. How _old_ was she? She certainly looked to be around her late teens. But her exact age was just another thing to be added to her pile of forgotten crap. Well, no one ever said living life was easy. Especially if it involved a science-acclaimed father, obnoxious paranormal crazed brother with a long history of crazy, and an egotistical idiot who proves there is hardly any hope for any intelligent life among the stars.

But still, it angered her to no end that within the time that she'd been here, she'd let herself get maimed. Allowed herself to be scarred none the less. But it wouldn't happen again.

She wouldn't allow it.

—

Moments later, she was walking down the halls towards her room when a sudden pulse made itself known in her head, causing her to stagger back. She grasped onto the walls for balance. She tightly shut her eyes and stood still, trying to gain back her senses.

However, a sharp pain bloomed from the place of her scar, making her knees buckle. Her eyes shot open, and her hands hovered over the spot of piercing pain. Then with whatever strength she could muster, she hauled herself back up and ran towards her room.

' _Get out.'_

Fear overrode her mind till her senses kicked back in. She stopped running and stood her ground. "No."

"You won't make me run, and you won't see me _suffer_." she snapped.

Despite the biting pain still spreading throughout her body, she trudged the rest of the way.

Gaz harshly slammed herself on the bed. She placed her fingers over the piece of clothing covering her marked skin, expecting to feel moist liquid soaking through the material. But felt nothing of that sort, to her relief. Looks like her stupid brain's playing tricks on her; just what she needed.

The swish of the doors opening caught her attention and she raised herself up on her forearms. The invader walked in with a tray in both hands, making his way over to the bed. She looked at it suspiciously.

"What is that?" she questioned.

"Your filthy human nutrients." Zim replied. He handed her the tray's contents which consisted of a regular ham sandwich and can of poop cola. Gaz took both items carefully, her mouth opening to ask something.

"If you're about to ask if either of these food items will make your head or any other part of you explode, then no. Sadly they will not." Zim said sarcastically.

Gaz snapped her fingers. "Damn. So close."

Zim scoffed. "Human, please, if Zim wanted to blow your inferior met-sack out of existence, I wouldn't do it with a _sandwich_. Besides, I wouldn't want your disgusting blood-candies scattered across my base."

"Fair enough." Gaz agreed.

"So," Gaz started, taking a bite out of her sandwich. "You said this was my room, right?" "Yes," Zim responded with a raise of a nonexistent brow. "Well, how come I woke up in a different room this morning then?"

Zim shrugged, "You just fell asleep there instead."

Gaz frowned, taking another bite of her sandwich before setting it off to the side. Her gaze traveled back to the one in front of her, his eyes meeting hers.

There were so many questions she wanted to ask him, but so far he hasn't cracked. 'I'll get him to spill it sooner or later. No matter what it takes.' She thought on of ways to get him to talk, but her thoughts were soon interrupted by a yawn.

She rubbed her eyes for a second, then blinked them back open.

Zim smirked. "Is that tiredness I see?" he said in a mocking tone.

Gaz yawned again. "Don't be ridiculous. Darkness never sleeps." Zim rolled his eyes as he watched the girl struggle to get under the sheets. He got off the edge of the bed and moved over to help her. He kneeled down and gently placed a hand under her back, lifting her up to his chest. She tiredly made a noise of irritation and limply banged a fist against his chest. "Don't touch me you sick…pile of mucus…" she murmured.

When the sheets were done, he set her back down and placed the covers over her form. "How flattering." he responded drolly, though already knowing she couldn't hear him.

He sighed, picking up the leftover food and turned back towards the door. He looked back over his shoulder at the sleeping female before turning out the lights and leaving.

—

A/N

Hey guys, sorry for the late update. Just been kinda busy lately, and couldn't find the time to post up a new chapter. Welp, anyways, here ya' go. See you in the next update :)


	7. Chapter 7

_It'_

Chapter Seven

 _A dull warm light shone on her face. Yet still, she glared at the presence that stood beyond the rays._ _Unmoving eyes never strayed from her form. They skewed slightly due to the tilting head of the anonymous figure._ _A low hum sounded as a wire slithered its way toward her. She hissed and swatted the thing away with a smacking force._

 _"No." She spoke sternly._

 _The figure flinched at the harsh contact, and quickly pulled back the metal appendage. Those eyes blinked at her for a few minutes before a hand made its way into the light._

 _She backed away from the outstretched limb. Though, she stared at it with a hesitance._

 _Moments passed before two sets of uneven fingers intertwined._

 _Her head hung low, obscuring her face._

 _"I trust you."_

Her eyes blinked open with a start. She stared at the dark ceiling above her, and was surrounded by silence.

"Why?" She breathed.

She groaned as she shoved off the covers and swung her feet over the side of the bed. She tilted her head down to look at her form. She scoffed. At some point, she actually kind of hoped for all this to be some twisted dream.

However, it appeared that it was a solid reality.

Looks like she couldn't scare her brother again with another of her 'Dib-death visions'. It would've been amusing to see him barricading himself in his room again, for fear that even a piece of dust would cause his untimely demise.

If he was even still alive that is.

With little more thought, she pushed herself off the mattress and left the room. Maybe today she would finally get answers.

Zim was once again found focusing his attention on a screen with many symbols. Gaz walked up behind him to get a better look of the screen, though what any of it said was beyond her.

"What does that mean?"

Zim jumped a foot in the air before snapping around to glare at the girl. "Damn it, Gaz-Human, don't _do_ that!"

Gaz crossed her arms and gave him a deadpan look. "Relax, I'm not going to kill you… yet." Zim looked taken aback. "What's that supposed to me-" Then he stopped himself and tilted his head. "Wait, do you have memory of yesterday?"

"It's kind of hard to forget being in a house belonging to a guy with skin _that_ green." She poked him in the arm.

"Well you seem to forget everything just fine after each earth rotation." Zim retorted.

"Don't tempt me, Zim. It'll be your biggest mistake."

"Enough," he growled. "Do you remember the events of the past day, yes or no?"

"I'm pretty sure I already made that clear." Gaz spoke direly.

Zim groaned in annoyance. "What exactly do you remember?"

Gaz pondered the past day's events then spoke. "Waking up obliviously, finding you, the supposed news of Dib's death and some more stuff I don't care to talk on about."

"Really," he spoke skeptically. "You remember all that, did you?"

Gaz raised a brow. "Are you doubting my words?"

"No, of course not." Zim raised his hands up in front of himself. "I'm just… glad to see that your memory is restoring." He gave a weak smile.

Gaz creased her brows, searching over those nervous eyes and twitching grin. She pulled him by the collar causing the invader to yelp. "I expect answers today, got that? I let you off the hook yesterday," she gritted her teeth. "but I swear in won't happen again."

She released her hold and took a few steps back, then turned around to leave the room.

Zim rubbed at his neck and glared at the retreating girl with suspicion. He chuckled. Like he hadn't heard that one before. If only she knew how many times she'd actually breathed those words.

However, his humor was lost when he faced back to the screen, a glint of fear forming in his eyes. Because he knew; whenever the human started to remember, it was never a good sign.

Day 2292

* * *

A/N

Ok, quick little author's note. Since has decided to not quite work today, I'll have to type down here that the first line of this chapter is supposed to be (It's. Al- ). Just in case it doesn't appear to show that way for some readers and whatnot. Anyways, don't ask, end of story. Really hoping it doesn't happen again, but oh well. See you in the next update :)


	8. Chapter 8

_It's. All_

Chapter Eight

For the past few days, the girl had seemingly forgotten about her threat towards the Irken. Though, she was still yet to receive an answer of any sort.

Zim had watched her from a distance, so as not to infuriate her any further than she already was. On rare occasions he would come in every once in a while to check up on her, or just to give Gaz her daily meal at the end of each day.

He was well aware of the fact that her memory was returning, with a vengeance it seemed. Sometimes she would just start screaming in one of the halls and collapse on the floor. Other times she would just gaze off into nothingness for few moments, then return back to reality as if nothing had ever happened.

But the moments that scared him the most were when she would back away from him out of the blue. However, he couldn't care less if she backed away from him in fright or defense; he's rather pleased with the fact that he scares her that much. No, but it's those moments that push her out of his reach.

Those moments that make her untouchable. And he can only do so much as wait for her to return to a more vulnerable state.

Though, he had to admit, for the times those little outbursts stayed at bay, the girl was actually quite enjoyable to be around; in a dark, demonic sort of way.

It'd been quite a while since Zim had had a good amount of company. Well, tolerable company, he thought, thinking back to his little sir unit.

Nonetheless, he was still alarmed about her growing knowledge of the past, and he had to shut that door before it completely opened up, causing Gaz to remember everything. And Zim had had experience of the consequences that would only bring.

She bared the very scar from the first time he made the mistake of allowing her access to her memory. It almost costed him her life. He'd already lost everything, but he couldn't bring himself to say that he wanted to lose her as well.

She was his, and always would be.

Every day, he would continue to increase her dosage, but that didn't seem to work. No matter by how much he'd add, her memory continued to get stronger. For now, she was only getting small snippets of the past here and there, but it was only a matter of time before she'd be getting the whole story. If that happened, she would become like one of those hideous earth-dogs with rabies, trying to escape and leave Zim alone again.

But he will do whatever's necessary to make sure that won't happen another time, and that his human will stay here by his side.

But first, he would have to start by gaining her trust, and that's exactly what he intended to do.


	9. Chapter 9

_It's. All._

Chapter Nine

Zim found her sitting at one of the tables in the deeper parts of his labs. Her head was resting on her arm as she twirled an empty flask in one hand. Zim stared at her slouched form for a couple of seconds before taking steps forward. The clacking of his heals was the only sound in the bitter silence.

Zim pulled out an extra chair at sat across from her, his hands clasped together in a delicate manner. Gaz's eyes opened and slowly looked up at him, then closed once again, and her line of vision appeared to move back to the flask she still had in her hand.

Zim blinked at this, then leaned himself down to her level on the table. He folded his arms in front of the lower half of his face on the cold surface, covering his mouth. Only leaving his eyes intently staring at her forehead.

Again, Gaz gazed back up at him, she scowled this time. "What?"

He mumbled something. Gaz raised her head up completely to look at him. "What?" she repeated.

"I said, why don't you trust me?" he blurted, uncovering his mouth. He stared at her with wide eyes, as if he truly didn't understand. "Really?" Gaz inquired direly.

"Yes, little-Gaz, Zim must know." He said a little too eagerly. He leaned forward in his seat, waiting for her to respond.

Gaz glared at his little plea. He had to be joking. Nevertheless, she responded. "I need answers."

Zim shook his head. "You know I can't do that."

"Can't? Or won't?" she challenged.

"Gaz, is there any other way Zim can gain your trust?" He asked, desperately trying to aim for a different option.

"No, take it or leave it."

Zim clawed at the table, causing a loud screeching noise to emerge. He made something in between a pained whimper and a groan in the back of his throat.

"Human, please. Is there nothing else? Is that the _only_ reason why you can't trust me?!"

Gaz shot to her feet and held up her hand holding the flask. "You want to know why I can't trust you?" she seethed.

Zim stared up at the girl, about to reply.

Then, without warning the glass shattered between her fingers, the noise causing the invader to flinch.

"Because you're _you_."

With that, she let the shards fall to the table and sharply turned around on her heel. As she walked away, she pulled the remaining pieces of glass out of her palm, leaving a trail of stained fragments along the floor behind her.

Zim sat there, half terrified and half disgusted of what she'd just done with the flask. He sat there with his jaw slack for a few more minutes, then snapped out of it.

"Who _does_ that?!" He said with his arms stretched out, gesturing towards the pieces of glass on the table.

* * *

Zim silently followed after the trail that the girl left behind. What had she meant by that? 'Because you're you'? He would think that it was an honor to be Zim, but the human had made it seem otherwise.

He sighed. Even after all this time, there were still some things that he didn't understand about the female.

Things that he didn't understand about the filthy earth-stinks in general, but even the rest of this planet's inhabitants weren't as complexed as her. Dib's big-headedness had come in as a close second, but the Gaz-creature was ever more complicated.

Which only made the whole situation much harder than it needed to be, but for that reason alone; was what lured him to her in the first place…

His biggest mistake.

Throughout everything he'd faced in his life, for once -and **only** once- he would actually admit that he made a mistake. Impossible to believe, yes, but even the great Zim wasn't _that_ blind.

He gritted his teeth in remembrance.

He shook his head to get rid of the audacious memories, and continued to follow along the trail. Not much later, he found the girl sitting against the wall, her legs to her chest.

She growled and faced away from him. "Leave before I gouge your eyes out." she hissed.

Zim ignored the girl's threat as usual, and sat down beside her. Before he could get out so much as a word, Gaz's fist planted itself on the wall next to his head.

"I said **leave**."

Zim frowned, grabbing hold of her fist, placing it back down by her side. "I'm not here to fight, insolent human."

Gaz scoffed, ripping her hand away from his grasp. "That's what they all say."

Zim leaned his head back against the wall and rubbed his temples. "Do you always have to be this convoluted?"

Gaz shrugged, "Do you always have to be such an idiot?"

Both sat in silence for a few moments before Zim decided to speak. He exhaled a breath. "A few earth years ago, let's just say Zim found out the pointlessness of his existence." He turned his head to her.

She scowled back. "That's it?"

"For the moment, yes."

Gaz growled and stood back up. "That's not good enough. I don't care about your pathetic life."

He looked away from the girl, not making a move to get up.

"At one point you did."

Gaz paused at that. However, that only caused her to focus back on the spreading pain in her wounded hand. She made a noise of discomfort as she watched the blood continue to ooze out of her palm.

Zim noticed this and got back up to his feet. "Let Zim see." he said trying to get a better look of her hand.

"It's nothing." she stated quietly, moving away from the invader.

"Obviously it's _something_ , human. I'm quite sure your appendage hasn't always looked _that_ mangled. Now, let me see." he demanded, reaching for her hand.

He grabbed her wrist and analyzed the damage. "You're going to need stitches." he mumbled.

Gaz tried to wrench her hand away, but Zim's grip tightened.

"Do you trust me to heal your wound?" he said seriously.

"No." she glowered.

"Well, too bad. Come human, hurry before you dirty the place."

With that, he dragged the girl to one of the many rooms of his base.

* * *

Gaz sat quietly upon a table, waiting for the invader to finish preparing his materials. She thought about jumping off the table and running as far as she possibly could, but how long could you run for in the beast's own territory? So running wasn't an option.

Instead, she just sat there and hoped for the best. The best being that she wouldn't die.

When Zim appeared satisfied with his preparations, he turned back to the girl with a small test tube and pen-like object in hand.

Zim held out the objects to her. "Hold these."

Gaz took them in her unharmed hand, then raised a brow at what the Irken was doing. "You're putting gloves over your gloves?" she questioned dryly.

"Yes." he replied without hesitation.

"But they're already dirty."

"Do not even try to comprehend my methods, Gaz-Human." he stated arrogantly. "Now hand me back my materials."

Once received, Zim popped open the tube. Gaz glared at the bright purple liquid that jiggled around within it. "What is that?" she questioned as she watched him pour a small amount in his palm, rubbing it between his fingers.

"I don't know… some healing mix or something." he muttered. He moved over to her damaged hand and placed his palm over hers. She flinched at the contact, but ceased all movement as he continued to smear the gelatin-like substance across the wounded area.

"You don't need to be doing this." she stated lowly.

He didn't look up at her. "Well, you should have thought of that before destroying a perfectly good piece of equipment. That was just idiotic."

"No one said you had to help me." she retorted.

"Pft, like I was going to allow your inferior meat-sack to spill its disgusting substances all over my base." he shot back.

Gaz just huffed.

"Don't overthink actions, human, sometimes they could merely be for something as simple as preventing germs."

After a few moments, Zim pulled away to remove the second pair of gloves. He then picked up the pen-like device and pressed a button on its side.

The thing flared to life, a small red light began to glow at its tip. Gaz looked at the small object with some interest until her common sense kicked in. She started to back away. "I thought you said I needed _stitches_."

Zim looked confused at the girl's statement before looking down at the tool in his hand, then it clicked. "Same difference, Little-Gaz." he waved off.

He reached out for her hand, but Gaz moved away. Zim gave her a dire stare and crossed his arms. "Y'know if you leave that stuff on your hand there, it'll start to harden and eat away at your pitiful skin." He gestured to her appendage with a smirk.

Gaz narrowed her brows. "You're bluffing."

Zim raised his hands up in fake surrender. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. The choice is yours, human." He spoke with a devilish grin.

Gaz noticed that the cold substance had begun to compress more solidly around her hand. She stopped and thought for a moment. Then she moved her hand back towards the invader. She glared into the distance and grumbled. "You suck."

Zim's only response was the low laughter in the back of his throat. He then began to seal her scattered cuts with the small beam of red light from the device. A quiet hiss emerged from where the laser met her skin.

Gaz clenched her teeth at the slight stinging sensation.

"So…eh… what had you meant by that, before?" Zim said awkwardly as he continued his work. "Meant about what?" Gaz asked, a hint of strain in her voice.

"About your response, 'Because you're you.'? He inquired.

Gaz looked down at the Irken, though he didn't seem to notice. "It's simple, I don't trust you because you'r-"

"Yes, yes, I'm well aware of that, Gaz-creature." He cut her off. "But what _exactly_ about Zim makes him untrustworthy?"

"Do I have to give you a list?"

Zim paused a few seconds before continuing his work, then he scoffed. "Oh come on, the list can't be _that_ big." he said sarcastically.

"You wanna bet?" Gaz smirked.

"Little-Gaz, I will win any bet you dare to face Zim up with." he said confidently.

A few seconds later, Zim's hand clenched the tool as he continued to hear the girl ramble on and on. Finally, he decided he'd heard enough. "Silence! I get it!" he shouted.

Gaz chuckled. "And that's only to name a few."

Zim turned off the device and looked up at the human, an offended look upon his face. "You enjoy hurting Zim, don't you, Gaz-Human?" He said, squinting his eyes at her.

"A bit, yes." Gaz responded.

"Well," Zim spoke, moving up to her eye-level. "At least Zim knows it's just 'a bit'."

After a few moments, his features lost their glower and he just stood there searching her face. Gaz opened her amber eyes slightly and stared blankly back at the invader.

Suddenly, Zim's eyelids began to lower and his face inched closer to hers. His antennae also began to droop the closer he came, his clawed hand slowly moving up towards her chin.

Gaz watched this for a few seconds then growled.

"Zim, get out of my face."

Zim blinked as he froze in place. His eyes widened at his actions and he quickly pulled away. A light shade of purple dusted his cheeks as he faced away from the girl.

"Z-Zim is finished healing your wound, Gaz-Human." he stuttered, changing the topic.

Gaz looked down at her hand, appearing surprised. Not a cut or scratch that she could see. She flexed the appendage for a few moments, then looked back up at Zim. He still stood rigidly in place. Then she remembered, "Wait, what about the other pieces of glass that were still lodged in my hand?"

Zim's posture slumped down slightly. "They disintegrated during the process." He replied.

"Oh," Gaz gazed back down. "Well, thanks." she said.

Zim turned back to her and waved off her last words, a light shade of lavender still upon his cheeks. "Zim doesn't need your filthy gratitude, earth-smell. You are not deserving enough to be gifted with appreciativeness and welcomeness of _Zim!_ "

Gaz rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'm pretty sure I'm deserving enough to at least know how long I've been here. By the way, how long is that?" She asked with a slight sneer.

"A little over six years." He responded without thinking.

Everything seemed to halt in that moment.

Her eyes widened in shock, her blood running cold.

" _What?_ " She said, her voice hollow.

Then, Zim stiffened back up in realization of what he'd just said. Without a second thought, he quickly walked towards the door. "I have to go." She heard him mumble before he disappeared from view.

Gaz just sat there in the defining silence, repeating those words again and again in her head.

' _A little over six years.'_

' _A little over six years._ '

She then placed her head in her hands and whispered.

"Why?"

Day 2296

* * *

A/N

Hey guys, just a quick little announcement. I probably won't update as frequently after today. This being due to the 'horror' that is school.

I'm super sorry guys, I know I haven't gotten that much into the story yet, but I'll try to update as often as possible to soon be able to finish this thing.

Again, I'm really sorry about this! I'm freaking disappointed about it myself.

But like I said, I'll try to update as soon and as often as possible. Hopefully you guys stick with this fic till the very end, but it's totally up to you. And hopefully the next update will be soon. Till then, thanks for reading and see you in the next update. :)


	10. Chapter 10

_It's. All. H_

Chapter Ten

Screaming.

All that escaped her breathless lungs were those soundless cries. Her wavering vision staring blankly at the blurry form in front of her.

Undefined lines appearing to be lips continued to mouth words that she could only see. All she could hear was the low ringing that had begun to resound off the walls of her conscience. Clawed hands shook her arms in a harsh manner, but even that wasn't enough to feel even the swaying of her body.

A muffled noise softly made its way into her mind, overcoming the tedious sound of endless ringing for mere seconds before dispersing moments later.

Other than that, her being seemed to be trapped in a subconscious state of mind.

Zim shook the girl once more, his grip tightening over her clothed skin. He then released a breath in aggravation. This was pointless, he should've just left her like this 10 minutes ago. She always went through these stupid phases, he knew she would be fine afterwards.

Though, every single time things like this occurred, Zim found himself by the female's side. Always standing there, and always trying every which way to bring her out of it.

He scowled at his own actions.

Stupid humans and their cursed emotions.

This was all the Gaz-Human's fault.

He stopped his movements momentarily, his grip losing its strong hold as he thought over his mind's last words. His features became slightly crestfallen.

No matter how much he wanted do deny it, it was all his doing that got him into this mess.

He'd made a promise, and now he had to stand by it.

A spark of determination flickered in his eyes before he focused back on the task at hand. His grasp took a better hold and he started to shake Gaz again.

His pace slowly picked up speed in the process.

He growled. "C'mon human, snap out of i-!"

In just a few seconds, Zim came into contact with the ground, his Pak screeching slightly as it forcefully scraped against the floor. Zim groaned before his red gaze widely looked up at the human kneeling over his form.

Her fist balled up into his collar in a tight hold, diminishing his chance of an easy escape.

The invader glared at those golden eyes firing daggers into his skull.

"Why would you say that." she asked darkly.

Now Zim looked at her in confusion. "Say what?" he asked with puzzlement.

"Why would you say that." she repeated louder.

"I didn't say anything!" Zim spoke in a higher pitch.

" **Why would you say that and then leave?!** _"_ Gaz roared.

" **I NEVER LEFT!** " he practically whined, lifting his arms up in his own defense.

Gas's hold lessened a bit, though she still had her hand clenching his uniform. Her tense stature never faltered. "Lies."

Zim held his arms up higher in front of himself. "Look, I already did as you asked and moved away from you face," he said cautiously. "But I never said anything or left this room on any circumstances."

"How do I know you're saying the truth?" she said hotly.

Zim shrugged, continuing to hold the human's gaze. "Believe what you want; I don't care, but get off me before Zim does say something he'll regret."

Gaz's glower softened abruptly before she hissed, jerking back off of the invader. Her head hung low.

Zim pushed himself off the floor and dusted off his clothes. He then decided to move towards the human, reaching one gloved hand out to her. "Let's just get you back to your room, and then we-"

"I'm not going anywhere." She spoke venomously, moving away from him.

"Alright, that's _completely_ fine." he spoke, annoyance present in his voice. He backed away from the girl and started heading for the door. "I'll just bring your disgusting food here instead then, no big deal." His hands waving around, emphasizing his small amount of patience.

Once he left and the tapping of his footsteps could no longer be heard, Gaz hefted herself back up onto the table. She held her head in thought, her elbows resting on her lap.

Did she actually just imagine Zim telling her she'd been here for six years?

But it'd seemed so real.

Or had she really been here for that long?

* * *

Meanwhile in a few rooms down, Zim continued to prepare the girl's meal. He turned away from the food products to open a small container and briskly pick out a thin needle containing a clear substance. After tapping its side a few times, Zim's monotonous glower traveled back to the plate of miserable looking food. He then quickly injected the needle into the sandwich, its sharp edge easily puncturing the bread's 'flesh'.

Once all the fluid had been absorbed into the sandwich, Zim disposed of the now empty medical tool in the trashcan at his feet.

He leaned down to open a drawer. Inside it were various little packages, each seeming to hold a large amount of items. He reached for one and tore open a hole on one side with his sharp index finger. Zim pulled out an almost transparent piece of plastic with an image of a green, deadpan face and the word 'poop' written on it.

He reached for the soda baring the irken symbol on its cold surface, carefully wrapping it in the flimsy plastic.

Zim turned the can around in his hand, searching for any errors. It looked like a regular can of poop cola. Zim smirked to himself at his ingenious work. Though, that small moment of pride soon dwindled into one of contempt.

The alien stared at the blank face looking back at him, only reminding him of a certain gray, emotionless faced shirt.

A few moments passed before he shook a fist in the air and glared at the ceiling.

"Are you satisfied now?!" he shouted, a hint of something similar to pain in his voice.

"Leaving Zim with all this mess?!" he gestured around himself with jerky movements.

But of course; no answer.

There never was.

* * *

A/N

Short chapter I know, and I apologize for that. But just wanted to thank you guys for the support on this story and make sure to review to see what happens next! Anyways, that's all I wanted to say for now. Thanks again and see you in the next update :)


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